How to Change Your Instagram Highlight Cover Image Easily

Have you ever been watching Instagram stories and then suddenly you come across one or more frames that are just a word or a random image? There’s no explanation or question… it’s just as though it doesn’t belong? I have had that happen to me so many times in the last month that I started reaching out to ask what it was they were trying to share. It wasn’t long before I realized what was going on. They were trying to change their Instagram highlight cover image!

Remember when Instagram first came out with highlights and you had to post the cover photo for that group of highlights in your stories before you could select it as the cover image? Well, they actually changed that a long time ago and I was shocked to find out how many people had no idea that you could change your instagram highlight cover without posting the cover image to stories first!

I figured instead of sending the instructions one by one, like I was doing, I would just post it here for anyone to see how easy it is to change those Instagram highlight cover images.

What are Instagram Story Highlights?

Just in case you have no clue what I’m even talking about, Instagram story highlights allow you to group old stories together into one area. These highlights live just below your Instagram bio. Story highlights can be made with any stories you’ve shared in the past and group them into one easy spot where your followers can click and watch them all in one place.

How to Change Your Instagram Highlight Cover Images

Ok, so how do you change those cover images? Let’s go step by step.

1. First, you are going to click on the highlight that needs a new cover image. In my screenshots, I chose “FOOD”

2. You’ll see three dots on the bottom right hand corner and the word “MORE” just below it. Click on those three dots.

3. Click “Edit Highlight” from the menu that pops up.

4. At the top, you’ll want to click “Edit Cover”.

5. Now, if the cover image you want to use was not shared as a story at some point and already in your highlight, you will want to click that image icon on the bottom left. This will pull up your camera roll.

6. Select the image you want to use as your icon, zoom in if necessary and then center until it’s exactly in the position you want it to be. When you are convinced that you love it, click “Done” on the upper right hand corner.

7. Now, you’ll be clicking “Done” on the next two screens and then you can exit back out to your profile page. Your new instagram highlight cover should now be there for the world to see.

Easy, right?!

Also, if you’re looking for an easy way to create cover images, I recommend Canva. I found this great step by step on thinkmaverick.com.

Saving them in Canva is easy and if you want to change them or add new ones, it makes it that much faster when you already have the template ready to go! I change mine every 3-6 months, depending on my mood.

I hope this was helpful and that I’ve saved you a bit of time next time you want to update your instagram story highlights covers! Don’t forget to check out all of my other social media tips and tricks!